The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1887-02-18

FestivaIs--sacred Mountain.
Living in such scenes of enchantment, these
people are as light of heart and sunny in dis
position as children, and SO polite and pleas
ure loving as to excite the admiration of even
their French and Italian visitors. There is
| no dwelling so humble but it has spot for
trees and flowers. The rich have gardens in
which are faithful reproductions in miniature
of their variod landscapes, hidden i'll trees and
Towering shrubbery. Every farmers plot
of land is beautiful and adorned The gold
of the ripened rice and wheat is contrasted
against background of green foliage What
ever name may be given to the religion Of
that people, and whatever creeds and doc
trines may have been engrafted upon their
beliefs, the main feature of their worship is
| an intense love, amounting almost to an ado
ration, of nature. This appears in their
whole life. They have built their temples on
the sides of the great mountains embowered
them in oyerhanging groves, and surrounded
| them with everything of Towering shrub
The sites Of these command beautiful views
OF the surrounding country, and usually are
| near fountains and waterfalls. The village
shrines are located in the most charming spot
| of the neighborhood, and no labor is spared
| to adorn and beautify them. The highways
are bordered by rows of trees planted CEN
| turies ago, whose branches form an evergreen
| arch over the head of the traveller. The road
| to Nikko, where the temples and tombs of the
| tycoons are situated, has grand avenue of
| giant frs For sixty miles one may ride in
the shade of these wide branching trees
From Yokohama south of Kioto, the old Cap
ital, 400 miles, the road is one continuously
shaded avenue, winding along the ocean
shore, around narrow bays and inlets and
over high hills and mountain sides.
NO LACK OF HOLIDAYS.
Unlike their neighbors, the Chinese, the
Japanese take time from their toll to enjoy
all this. Their government may have been
despotic and arbitrary, but it never over
worked its laboring population. It gave
them more holidays than any people under
the sun ever enjoyed. They had what was
known as the "Ichi-roku" days-that is, all
the days in the lunar months that were desig-
mated by one or six. Thus the 1st, 9Th, 1ith,
10th, 21st and 2Gth days of each month were
legal holidays In addition to these the
birthdays of the ruling emperor and empress,
and also of several Of the greatest of their
predecessors of the. ruling dynasty, which
reaches back through 2,6O0 years, are holi-
days. Every village has holidays in honor
of its patron saint, and the saints of the
famous temples and shrines have festal days.
On all of these the people, in their holiday
dresses, gather at the temples and shrines for
thanksgiving and to admire the beauties of
earth and sky. Pilgrimages are a marked
feature of the japanese life, but they are not
characterized by the austerity of the Chris
tian and Mohammedan world No school
children, liberated from long study, could be
happier and gayer than these people as they
go along the shaded highways Whole neigh
borhoods turn out their population, leaving
only enough people at home to care for the
households, and go sometimes hundreds of
miles on what may appropriately be called
these religious picnics They walk along the
shaded avenues, talking, laughing and sing
ing. They rest when weary from walking in
the shade of the great trees by some clear
stream or some bubbling spring. All these
great highways are lined with tea booths,
where tea rice, eggs or cakes can be had for
an incomparably low price.
In the villages, which are almost continu-
Gus along these roads, there are numerous
hotels where these pleasure seeking pilgrims
get their dusty feet bathed on arrival, a bath
before retiring, two meals and a bed for ten
or fifteen cents for each person. Forty miles
east from Yeddo are the temples of Narrita,
situated in a picturesque spur of the great
central mountain range The road leading
there is one long avenue of trees planted 500
years ago. It runs through green, fertile
fields with the Bay of Yeddo, dotted with
countless white sails on the one hand, and the
great mountains on the other. During half
the year this broad road is lined with parties
of pilgrims on their way to or from these
temples. Every mile or two has its village
of hotels for the entertainment of these
people. Some of these caravansaries accomo-
date GOO guests. The number of people visit
ing these shrines annually will reach more
than 100000. In the spring, when the rice
has been planted, the national rice festival
takes place. This festival continues for six
days. The people 60 out into the fields, into
the valleys, or on to the terraced hill and
mountain sides to the shrines of the patron
saint Of agriculture, and there give thanks
for the sun and rain that have given such
promise of an abundant harvest. At night
every town is brilliantly lighted, and rejoic
ing with music and dancing is heard till long
into the night.
FLOWER FESTIVALS.
The spring and summer bring the flower
festivals, when city and village streets for
miles are filled with the most beautiful floral
exhibitions and crowds of admiring people.
There is no more beautiful sight than one of
these long, wide streets lighted at night and
filed with flowers The love Of the beautiful
has led the Japanese to forego the grosser
pleasures of eating the fruit of the cherry
tree in order that they may enjoy the beauty
and fragrance of the cherry blossoms. There
are large groves of the double fowered cherry
trees in all parts of the country, which grow
to enormous size. The flower is as large as
rose, and when in full bloom these groves are
marvel of beauty, and are visited by thoa-
sands of people, who spend the whole day in
these howery avenues. The chrysanthemum
gardens to be found in all towns and villages
are points of great attraction. In these are
to be seen every variety of that flower, every
shade of color and almost every size of bios
som.
The summer sees streams of people, the
poor as well as the rich, going to gaze at
Fujiama, the pearl of mountains No per-
son is so poor and no distance so great but
what several pilgrimages are made in O life
time to this venerated mountain. In tho
autumn, when the golden rice and wheat,
and the brown miiIet have been gathered,
the harvest festival is held in every part of
the country. There in the groves, on soft
green carpets spread by nature, under the
full harvest moon, they make merry, night
after night, with song and dance. At these
harvest festivals all classes, from prince to
peasant, rejoice over the ample winters
store. It is not only in this intense worship
OF nature InaG The Deauty or Lnelr country
has nodded and influenced their natural cLar-
acter. 1t is seen i'm their domestic inter-
course. In all the conyentionalities OF ro-
lite life they are fer in advance of any people
in the Occident. This refined polteness per-
yades every grade OF society. It is just as
noticeable among the lower as in the higher
classes. To be rude in word or act is to be-
come social outcast. The poorest workers
when they meet, greet each other as politely, /
and pass The compliments of the day as freely |
and feelingly as do those of higher stations.
While the vocabulary Of compliments and
blessings is d long ore there are no words for
. curse in their whole Language. Cor. San
Francisco Chronicle
Late, Late, Too Late. Eas l
My dear friend, 7 said a minister at the
bedside of a sick man. u want to call your
attention to the blessed consolation which re-
igion brings in hours of suffering and danger
TO thosen- satI
4I'm much Obliged to you,n interposed the
grateful patient, @but yon are too late.a
4Too lates"
Yes. sir, my physician says that the crisis
s past, and all danger is oyern-New York
Sum
4 Disappointment.
Smith with effusion) Hello, Brown, 10
hat yous heard you were drowned.
Brown with sadlessl-No, it was my
r0thef
Smith tthonghtfully) What d pity. wash